Fighting Through It All [Dean Winchester fanfic] #Wattys2015

Chapter Twenty One

"So you're leaving in four days?"

My younger sister looks at me, blue eyes filled with hurt. I nod, stepping up over a large boulder, and she follows suite.
"I've got to," I answer, extending my hand for her to grab as she struggles to get up. She grabs it, and I haul her up. I look her in the eye. "I've already told you, if I get too close to anyone, they get killed. I can't have that happening."
We begin walking again, up the side of this mountain on a hiking trail. We both wear fitness leggings, sneakers, tank tops, and our hair is tied up in ponytails with baseball hats on our heads. My sweater is tied around my waist, while Elena's is shoved into her book bag.

We decided to go for a hike today, since when I woke up, it was beautiful and sunny out. I called her at 7:15, and at 7:45, we met at McNay's diner parking lot. She got into my car, and we drove to Hogback Mountain in Kansas, shortening the regular five and half hour drive down to four hours and 45 minutes. We've been hiking for around an hour, and at this rate, we've got around four to six hours left to go. We'll be home late, but it's nice to have some quality time with my sister.

"How come you can't," She reaches up to grab a rock as we reach a fairly steep incline, "Just put up more wards?"
I help her hoist herself up, and I scramble up right behind her, at a much quicker rate.
"Because that's just what they are: wards. They don't kill anything, and you can only hide for so long. And plus, I've stayed in that place before. The Pueri will find me, and that'll put the brothers in danger," I proceed to explain.
"Can we stop up ahead?" She asks breathlessly, motioning to a lone tree. I nod, and we hike over to it, sitting down underneath it's cool shade. It's hot out today, at a bombing 95 degrees when we left the car at 1:30 to begin hiking.

We take out snacks from our bags, as well as our water bottles. As I was getting ready in the morning, Elena called me and asked what she should wear and pack. When she told me she wasn't a huge hiker, I told her lots of water or Gatorade and protein bars, as well as fruit. I take a swig from my bottle, looking up at the sky. It's unbearably sunny, so I reach into my bag, grabbing my sunglasses just as Elena did a little while back on the trail.

I snack on a protein bar, taking in the feeling of the summer Nebraska heat. We finish up our snacks, and just like that, we head off again. Elena keeps up well as we just walk, but she catches the evil smirk on my face as I take off in a sprint up a clearing, with a minimal amount of rocks. She calls after me in a distressed tone, but I just laugh at her and keep on pushing. I can hear her huffing and puffing behind me, as well as jingling of her pack as she stumbles up the rough terrain.

When I reach the top of the little clearing, I stop and turn around, watching as she just begins to walk again, chest heaving with large breaths. I laugh at her, shaking my head, and call out for her to pace her breathing. She flips me off, keeping her head to the ground, sweat slicking her forehead. I laugh at her, and when she reaches me, she weakly punches me in the arm, saying that she'll kill me if I ever do that again.

We continue on, climbing, hiking, and talking. The sun beats down on us, and multiple times, we reapply sunscreen. Cicadas can be heard all around us, and dry, straw grass tickles our legs as we walk through it. While I feel completely at home, Elena seems to feel out of her element. I joke with her, saying next time we'll go kayaking. She glares at me, and continues to hike on, muttering about how she needs to get outside more.

We take a quick break every hour for about ten minutes or so. Three hours in, Elena begins complaining about how much her back and feet hurts, so I take her book bag for her, despite her protests. To be honest, this very minimally affecting me, since this is all I do on the island. I have hiked the mountain there many times, and I've even stayed up there for the night a couple times, which I won't be able to do during the winter.